Stanford coach David Shaw defends QB Josh Nunes after Washington loss

Stanford coach David Shaw is quick to defend quarterback Josh Nunes, who had a BAD game against Washington on national TV Thursday.

The Huskies stacked the line to stop the run and forced Nunes to beat them. He couldn’t. He went 18-for-37 for 170 yards and an interception in the loss. Nunes is last in the league in pass efficiency at 114.19.

“The first three weeks he progressed every week,” Shaw said on Tuesday’s Pac-12 Conference coaches call.

“We were very conservative with him the first week. The second week we opened up a little bit. He played great. He had 270 yards and a couple touchdowns. Against USC he was OK in the first half. He missed some things but in the second half he was awesome.

“Then against Washington he didn’t play his best football. He threw four bad passes. That’s the thing about playing quarterback. He threw four bad balls and people are upset, understandably. At the same time he threw five great balls. His deep balls were on target. Count on him bouncing back. For whatever response people have, I could care less.”

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.